Indonesian troops have shot dead the military commander of separatist rebels in the troubled province of Aceh.
Indonesian Brigadier General Mr Jali Yusuf, the head of military operations in the province said Abdullah Syafii was killed yesterday during a raid on a hideout of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM).
GAM has been fighting since 1976 for an independent Islamic state in the province on the northern tip of Sumatra island. An estimated 10,000 people, many of them civilians, have died since then.
Members of the army's special reserve unit raided the GAM hideout at the isolated hamlet of Sarah Panyang, The Indonesian military claimed the troops called on nine people seen entering the hideout to surrender but they opened fire.
Seven rebels were killed in a 20-minute shootout while two others, who are believed to have been wounded, escaped.
Syafii (54) was one of two Free Aceh Movement leaders who had been invited for peace talks with the province's governor, Mr Abdullah Puteh.
Mr Puteh said yesterday he sent Syafii a letter via a courier. "I hope he will soon reply," the governor said.
AFP